Palestinian man persecuted in Austria for war crimes in Syria

May 11, Vienna: An asylum seeker was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Austria after being found guilty of killing 20 people in Syria.

The 27-year-old man was accused of shooting unarmed or wounded soldiers following a battle in the city of Homs after fe was arrested in western Austria last June.

It is thought to be the first time that a case involving war crimes in Syria have been tried in Austria.The sentence was handed down by a court in Innsbruck, the Austria Press Agency reports.

The suspect had been placed under investigation when officials were alerted to his account of events in Syria last year.
Austria is unable to extradite the man to face charges in Syria because of the ongoing civil war there.

Killing injured soldiers is prohibited under the Geneva Convention and could be prosecuted under international counter-terrorism agreements.